Journal of Population and Social Studies, Volume 24 Number 2 July 2016 : 81 – 100 DOI 10.14456/jpss.2016.7 Location Choice of Asian Immigrants in the United States: Do Neighbor Effects Matter? Mingming Pan 1 Spatial consideration has been neglected in the migration literature. This paper fills the gap by evaluating location choices of Asian immigrants in the United States in a spatial framework. New Asian immigrants from China, India, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines are examined using the American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) data for the years spanning 2006 to 2011. Current activity in the United States and national origin are used to divide the immigrants into sub- groups for analysis. Neighbor states’ characteristics and spatial dependence (studied in spatial econometrics) are considered. No spatial dependence is detected, except for the Philippine immigrant group. Many immigrants consider not only a state’s characteristics but also its neighbor states’ characteristics. For some immigrant groups, neighbor states exert strong competing effects, while for other groups, neighbor states’ characteristics have complementary effects. In either case, to encourage or discourage certain immigration, state governments will need to consider not only their own conditions but also those of neighbor states, so that they can design and implement the most appropriate immigration policies. Keywords: Asian immigrant; location choice; United States; neighbor effect Introduction The immigrant population in the United States hit a record of 41.3 million in July 2013, accounting for 13.1 percent of U.S. residents. Information on the number and characteristics of immigrants is important for state and local governments to prepare for challenges and opportunities lying ahead. This paper analyzes the location determinants of new Asian immigrants’ initial settlement among the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia and compares their location preferences by national origin and by current activity in the United States. In response to Cushing and Poot (2004)’s call for examining spatial considerations, this paper tests whether or not spatial models are needed in migration research. The paper provides a review of current literature on location choice of immigrants in the United States, focusing on studies of new immigrants. It then describes the immigrant data analyzed in this study and the distribution of immigrants in the United States. Empirical models, which analyze the relationship between the inflow of immigrants into a state and state characteristics, are followed by a discussion of the estimation results and policy implications. 1 Wright State University, Dayton, OH, USA. Email: mingming.pan@wright.edu I would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. Published online: 21 July 2016